From coins to confidence: How gamification helps students move from external to intrinsic motivation in maths

Erin Byrne -

When students are first introduced to new challenges, especially in maths, they often need an initial nudge to get going. That’s where our new gamification features come in: they offer that spark of external motivation through fun, rewards and visible progress. But our end goal is different. We want students to keep going because they want to, not because they have to.

The psychology behind it

Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan) identifies three key drivers of intrinsic motivation:

  • Autonomy – feeling in control of your learning
  • Competence – seeing your progress and believing you can improve
  • Relatedness – feeling connected to others in your learning community

External rewards can help students take the first steps, but over time, they need to experience these three drivers to stay motivated from within. Research shows that gamification, when used with purpose, can make that shift possible.

Step 1: Starting with external motivation

When students first encounter our gamification tools, they’re often motivated by visible rewards: coins from Spin the Wheel, collecting Stickers, or climbing the Leaderboard. These taps into extrinsic motivators: clear, tangible outcomes that make participation feel worth it from day one.

  • Spin the Wheel offers a playful daily reward just for showing up, building the habit of logging in.
  • Coins and Shop let students customise their dashboard, making the experience feel personal.
  • Stickers and Outcome Ribbons give visible recognition for effort and mastery, reinforcing the link between effort and achievement.

These elements meet students where they are on the continuum of motivation.

Step 2: Building competence through progress

Once students are engaged, the next step is to help them see they can improve. This is where features like Personal Best and Question Streaks come in:

  • Question Streaks reward sustained focus, making the process of “just one more question” feel exciting.
  • Personal Best focuses on beating your own score, reinforcing growth over competition.

By showing progress week to week, these features build a sense of competence - a core ingredient in intrinsic motivation.

Step 3: Connecting through collaboration

Intrinsic motivation also grows when learning feels social. Features like Tug of War and Class Expedition give students a reason to work together toward a shared goal.

  • Tug of War adds energy to tasks, making teamwork part of the learning process.
  • Class Expedition builds long-term momentum as the class collectively reaches a monthly target.

These experiences nurture relatedness. Students feel part of something bigger than themselves, which research shows is essential for lasting motivation.

Step 4: The shift to intrinsic motivation

Over time, we want to see that balance shift. The coins, badges and points may have sparked the journey, but ideally students go on to value:

  • the satisfaction of mastering a skill
  • the pride in seeing their own progress, and
  • the enjoyment of solving problems with peers

An instructional model, such as the one shared by our QLD Ed Tech consultant Alex Bunt in his webinar:

scaffolded exposure → retrieval-based practice → gamified challenge

is designed to support this shift. By embedding gamification within curriculum-aligned tasks, we make sure the motivation lasts beyond the game.

Why this matters

When students move from doing maths for the reward to doing it for the challenge, they become more persistent, more confident, and more willing to take ownership of their learning. And that’s the real win: not just better scores, but better learning habits for life.

To learn more about the gamification features and how they might work in your classroom, download our free teacher guide.